Audience: Middle School/High School students
Materials: A large screen for the classroom and devices for groups of students, Faces of Beta Israel Character Profiles, Faces of Beta Israel Padlet
OBJECTIVES:
- Students will be able to describe the efforts by the State of Israel to rescue the Beta Israel and integrate them into Israeli society.
- When paired with the previous lesson Beta Israel: Evolution of Tradition, students will be able to describe the first reactions of the Beta Israel as they arrived in Israel.
- Students will be able to identify the various challenges the Beta Israel faced in Israel.
- Students will be able to explain the special place the Beta Israel holds in Israeli society.
History: Show the students one or both of the videos below about the military operations that brought Ethiopian Jews to Israel in the 1980s and 1990s. Explain that though there have been other operations like these since the largest operations were Operation Moses and Operation Solomon.
Brainstorming: Prompt students to brainstorm about the experiences of these individuals; what might have been their challenges, feelings, and positive experiences?
Dive Deep: Introduce the next section of the lesson as an opportunity to have a closer look at the experience of one character. This can be done in small groups, as an individual experience, or as a jigsaw activity.
The students should learn about the characters utilizing the character profiles and/or the video about a character. The students should be instructed to take notes recording information as they read and/or watch. Following this process, ask the students to complete the Padlet based on the character they were assigned using their notes.
You may want to review all of the profiles to identify themes between the different characters beyond the ones provided below.
Discussion: Facilitate a discussion with students about the characters using the completed Padlet as the basis of the discussion. The goal of this discussion is not to analyze each individual character but rather to discover larger themes about the experience and accomplishments of the Beta Israel community in the State of Israel. Discussion prompts can include:
- Are there challenges that many of the characters face?
- Are there any consistent story elements that came up in multiple characters’ narratives?
- How do the characters view the State of Israel?
- Is there any story that you found inspiring? Why?
Specific themes may emerge from the different profiles of the characters including courage, bravery, fear, racism, taking a leap of faith, pride, loyalty, and adjustment to a new culture and lifestyle. You may want to focus on any of these themes and/or extrapolate other themes that are connected to the content of your classroom curriculum.
PADLET QUESTIONS
These questions are to be included on the Padlet for students to respond to in real-time.
- When did the character’s family make Aliyah? Sub-question: Did the character make aliyah or was it their parents?
- Family information – how many people, where do they live now?
- Child experiences in Israel – what were the challenges or opportunities that the character experienced as a child?
- Where did they receive their education?
- What is their career choice/path?
- What are their current opportunities/positive experiences in Israel?
- What are their past or current challenges in Israel?
- Anything interesting?
This lesson plan is based on content from the book, “My Family The Beta Israel: A 10-Unit Curriculum for Ethiopian-Jewish Heritage for High School Teachers and Students,” published by Ono Academic College and the International Center for Ethiopian Jewry.